As Nepal faces breaking point amidst its worst outbreak, the United Nations and its partners launched in May 2021 the calling for US$ 83.7 million to mobilize an emergency response over the next three months to assist 750,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by the pandemic. The plan was endorsed by the Nepal Humanitarian Country Team and the ’s COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre and lays out critical areas of support required to complement the Government of Nepal’s response efforts. Credit: World Health Organization (WHO)
KATHMANDU, Nepal, Jul 23 2021 (IPS) – Following the Supreme Court’s decision to reinstall the House of Representatives and appoint after a prol…
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sep 21 2021 (IPS) – As developing countries struggle to cope with the pandemic, they risk being set back further by restrictive fiscal policies. These were imposed by rich countries who no longer practice them if they ever did. Instead, the global South urgently needs bold policies to ensure adequate relief, recovery and reform.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Bold fiscal responses needed
Governments must mobilise and deploy resources sustainably and fairly, consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With rich countries’ refusal to help more, adequate government financing is crucial.
Taxation is typically a more sustainable, effective…
COVID-19 cancelled out the last 12 years of advancements in finding and treating people with TB. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS.
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 21 2021 (IPS) – Before COVID-19 came along, tuberculosis (TB) was a primary focus of health authorities in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, were diagnosed with TB in the region, but epidemiologists estimated that 1 million more had TB but were neither diagnosed nor treated.
The scope and intensity of the global TB epidemic is fueled by antiquated and inadequate TB drugs, most of which were develop…
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec 14 2021 (IPS) – Failure to vaccinate most in poor countries sustains the COVID-19 pandemic. Rich country greed and patent monopolies block developing countries from affordably making the means to protect themselves.
Mutant menace
The SARS-CoV-2 virus has been . Numerous replications in hundreds of millions of hosts have generated . Some mutations are more resilient than others, and better able to overcome human defences.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Early data suggest the B.1.1.529 Omicron variant is than others, including Delta, and possibly to existing treatments and vaccines. Health authorities the are WHO’s latest ‘variant of concern…
A woman is vaccinated against COVID-19 in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo. February 2022. Credit: UNICEF/Jospin Benekire
BUENOS AIRES/ DHAKA/JOHANNESBURG, Feb 11 2022 (IPS) – In 2021, Global South countries came out on the short end of vaccine supply deals. In 2022, they are building capacity to produce vaccines themselves.
Latin America’s vaccination rate is among the highest in the world. Chile leads the way with 86 per cent of the population completely vaccinated, followed by Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador. Some countries even achieve rates of over 90 per cent for those having received the first jab.
The region, which had been struggling wi…
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Apr 19 2022 (IPS) – Once deemed a basic human needs success story, Sri Lanka (SL) is now in its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. Nonetheless, SL’s ‘moment of truth’ now offers lessons for other developing countries.
China scapegoat
SL has just for the very first time. Attributing its current predicament to a Chinese ‘’ is a new Cold War propaganda distraction – which we will undoubtedly hear much more of.
Anis Chowdhury
In this fable, SL is a country caught in a debt trap due to white elephant projects mooted and financed by borrowings from China. Blaming SL’s debt crisis on Chinese loans is not o…
ROME, Jun 3 2022 (IPS) – Developing countries are facing a combination of crises that are unprecedented in recent times. Over the last three years they have had to face the COVID-19 crisis, the food crisis, the energy crisis, the climate change crisis, the debt crisis and, on top of all this, a global recession. The crises have overlapped, and each has added to the problems created by the previous ones.
Daud Khan
Much of the “fault” for these crises lies with the big countries – their desire for geo-political domination, the continued emission of GHGs, the tight money policy of recent months.
There are strong calls for increased aid flows and debt relief, as w…
NEW YORK, Sep 2 2022 (IPS) – As we approach this year’s , global leaders can and must prioritize expertise and mobilize political will to support efforts to ensure inclusive and quality education for all, especially girls. This is at the heart of in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the commitments made in the and the .
Helen Grant
Despite the progress made in recent decades, gender inequality between girls and boys, in all their diversity, is deepening. According to a recent United Nations , the interlinked crises: of armed conflicts, climate change and COVID-19 are putting the 2030 Agenda in “grave danger, along with humanity’s v…
ECW Director Yasmine Sherif Statement on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
NEW YORK, Dec 2 2022 – ECW works together with governments, UN agencies, civil society and the private sector for an inclusive world where all children with disabilities are able to go to school in safe and accessible learning environments. We work together for an inclusive world where the complex challenges of today offer up the transformative solutions of tomorrow.
Yasmine Sherif
As we mark the , we must not forget the power of education in overcoming challenges.
Worldwide, there are nearly . These children are 49% more likely to have never attended school. In …
Cyclone damage in Vanuatu. Credit: UNICEF/ReliefWeb
LONDON, Mar 23 2023 (IPS) – Human life is sacred and every individual deserves an equal chance in life. We have a common desire, we all want to lead a free, fulfilling existence, with dignity, where our basic needs are met, with opportunities to advance and equal treatment under the law. These are fundamental human rights, protected by international law, which we all have a shared responsibility to protect.
Out of the horrors and bloodshed of war, we created an international system for cooperation between nations under the United Nations, with our rights enshrined by the Universal Declaration on Human Righ…