OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings offers recommendations to governments on short-term responses to COVID-19: “Without urgent and targeted action, this health and economic crisis can become a human trafficking crisis, putting many more lives and the cohesion of our societies at risk.” “Human trafficking feeds off vulnerability. It is precisely when […]
Category: Wellness
Checkmate! China’s Coronavirus Connection
Dr Simi Mehta is the CEO and Editorial Director of Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI), New Delhi. She can be reached at . Handover ceremony at UN compound in Beijing for donation of critical medical supplies to the Chinese government. Credit: UNDP China NEW DELHI, May 20 2020 (IPS) – Coronavirus outbreaks in China […]
Falling Clean Energy Costs Create Opportunity to Boost Climate Action in COVID-19 Recovery Packages
Frankfurt / Nairobi, Jun 10 2020 – As COVID-19 hits the fossil fuel industry, a new report shows that renewable energy is more cost-effective than ever providing an opportunity to prioritize clean energy in economic recovery packages and bring the world closer to meeting the Paris Agreement goals. Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2020 […]
Q&A: Post COVID-19 Pandemic Let’s Stop the Next Wave of Medicalisation over Mental Health
The wall at a Community Mental Health Movement in Brazil. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 2020 (IPS) – The current pandemic is not only heightening mental health concerns, but might also put many at risk of becoming institutionalised or being neglected by the system. This is according to Dainius Pūras, the United Nations […]
Google’s $10 Billion Investment in India Should be Inclusive of Persons with Disabilities
Unless diversity is accepted and inclusion becomes everyone’s business, it will be impossible to achieve the goal of universal health coverage because 15% of the global population who have some form of disability will be left behind. Credit: Bigstock. Jul 30 2020 (IPS) – Over the next seven years, to improve technology, health and education, according […]
Why COVID-19 Vaccines Need to Prioritize ‘Superspreaders’
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels. Sep 9 2020 (IPS) – Once safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are available, tough choices will need to be made about who gets the first shots. A committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine – at the behest of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and […]
Economic Trends and What’s Important in Life
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 2020 (IPS) – US third quarter GDP numbers released two weeks ago delighted stock markets and President Trump. Output had picked up by 7.4%, annualised as 33.1%, the largest quarterly economic growth on record, almost double the old record of 3.9% (annualised as 16.7%) in the first quarter of […]
If Your Civic Space is Closed, your Human Rights Dissolve
Bibbi Abruzzini, Forus Communication team, Paris. Credit: Forus International PARIS, Dec 10 2020 (IPS) – On Human Rights Day, civil society calls for the protection of civic space as a fundamental freedom, as more than 80% of the world’s population live in countries where civic space is closed, repressed or obstructed. Protecting civil society and […]
Inclusive and Equitable Education in the Pacific
NOUMEA, New Caledonia, Jan 25 2021 (IPS) – In 2019, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 challenges all nations to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities […]
International Women’s Day, 2021Gender Equality is The Roadmap We Need to Overcome Our Most Pressing Global Challenges
The following opinion piece is part of series to mark the upcoming International Women’s Day March 8. NEW YORK, Mar 4 2021 (IPS) – In 2020, progress on gender equality in many countries in large part because of the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a , by 2021, around 435 million girls […]