Dhaka, May 15 – Journalist Ashiqur Rahman Apu is a Covid-19 survivor who feels lucky in Bangladesh to beat the virus and come out even stronger encouraging others to know how did he manage everything receiving treatment at home.
Category: Op-Ed
Healthy Oceans: Keeping Asia and the Pacific Afloat
By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana BANGKOK, Thailand, May 13 2020 (IPS) – Memories of idyllic beaches and sonorous waves may seem far away while we remain at home. Yet, we need not look far to appreciate the enduring history of the…
Stay home? Wash hands? But 1.8b homeless; 3.0b sans water
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, May 14 2020 (IPS) – The relentless battle against the devastating coronavirus pandemic has been underlined by several widespread advisories from health experts – Stay home. Wash your hands. Wear mask. Keep social distance. But…
Can graft risks be mitigated not hindering Covid-19 response
Ed Olowo-Okere As governments respond to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the need for speed can lead to short-circuiting the normal procedures designed to control corruption risks. The circumstances of the pandemic can make traditional oversight even more challenging. Moreover, the…
Housing is both a prevention & cure for Covid-19
By Maimunah Mohd Sharif and Leilani Farha NAIROBI, Kenya, May 13 2020 (IPS) – Public health officials are calling the “stay home” policy the sacrifice of our generation. To flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections, this call of duty is…
COVID-19 has not slowed down ecological women farmers
Huasao, Peru, May (IPS/Mariela Jara) – It’s eight o’clock in the morning and Pascuala Ninantay is carrying two large containers of water in her wheelbarrow to prepare with neighbouring women farmers 200 litres of organic fertiliser, which will then be…
Black Americans bearing the brunt of coronavirus recession
May 10 2020 (IPS) – As the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in April, many Americans were shocked by the extent that black Americans were being disproportionately impacted: higher infection rates, more deaths and greater job loss.
Biodiversity or Bust
By Tudor Alexis TORONTO – The blame game has begun. The number of COVID-19 victims is still unknown, but there is a stream of hate and misinformation pervading timelines. The damage of disinformation and the virus itself to families and…
Business Leaders Commit to a Clean Economic Recovery
By Bertrand Piccard LAUSANNE – The COVID-19 crisis is far from over. Yet, even as people continue to transmit the coronavirus and the death toll mounts remorselessly, pressure for a return to normal is already growing in some quarters.
34 movies to take you inside global food system from home
Danielle Nierenberg One of the most powerful ways to learn about the food system is through those on the front lines. And as we shelter at home during this pandemic, documentaries can help transport us directly to farms, processing facilities,…
Need for a new architecture on international public finance
Coventry, United Kingdom, 6 May (Celine Tan) – The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the systemic failures of the international framework for development cooperation and international public finance. Based on an outdated, post-war system that is premised on charity, not solidarity,…
Basic income: Finland’s final verdict
by Philippe van Parijs on 7th May 2020 @pvpbrussels The coronavirus crisis has renewed interest in the notion of a universal basic income. The full report of a two-year Finnish experiment has just appeared.
A step forward in fighting hunger
– Dr Bandar Hajjar The title seems both mysterious and exciting! To cut the reader’s confusion short, the title is related to the Saudi Project for the Utilization of Hajj Meat. It simply means that, last year, the project was…
Global impact of new corona virus and population issues
By Osamu Kusumoto TOKYO, May 5 2020 (IPS) – The new coronavirus (Covid-19) continues to wreak havoc across the world, as the number of infections and deaths rapidly rise. It has the potential to infect anybody regardless of age or…
Covid-19 makes universal digital access, coop essential: ITU
5 May 2020 – As the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes the way in which we work, keep in touch, go to school and shop for essentials – across the world – it has never been more important to bridge the digital…
Public health and epidemics
By Jan Lundius STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 30 2020 (IPS) – For some time Wuhan in China and Lombardy in Italy were epicentres of the COVID-19 virus, something that has changed when the contagion is spreading fast in the US.…
Indeed, it is a rough road ahead
Sudhirendar Sharma A slowdown of economy must lead to de-globalization as the answer to unrestricted acceleration that has over exploited natural resources at the cost of increasing inequality.
Journalism is not crime… nor it’s fake news on social media
By Namrata Sharma KATHMANDU, May 1 2020 (IPS) – This year’s World Press Freedom Day on 3 May falls during COVID-19 lockdowns in many of our countries. Restriction on movement means journalists all over the world are facing obstacles in…
Valuing life differently: migrants and the coronavirus crisis
by Felix Bender and Magdalena Ulceluse on 1st May 2020 @FEHBender The coronavirus crisis has led many to revalue human life. But not, it seems, when the lives are of migrants. A lot has been said and written on the…
Unions’ responses to the Covid-19 crisis in Europe
by Chiara Benassi on 1st May 2020 @chiarabenax On International Workers’ Day, it is important to recall the crucial role played by unions in protecting the workforce, especially at times of crisis. The Covid-19 crisis is having a huge impact…
10 Inspiring discussions on improving Post-COVID Food System
Danielle Nierenberg I’ve spent the past five and a half weeks interviewing global and domestic food and agriculture experts about COVID-19. They’ve made me cry more than once, they’ve definitely made me laugh, and—more than anything—they have inspired me.
2020: Corona in an Age of Transition
By Junaid S. Ahmad It is obvious that the coronavirus pandemic will be front-page news for a good part of 2020. And for good reason, since its human toll and social dislocation has been devastating. Though not theorized in this…
Govts cautioned not to use Covid-19 lockdown to cause harm
By Samira Sadeque UN, Apr 29 2020 (IPS) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling on governments and leaders around the world to ensure that their respective lockdown measurements don’t end up causing harm to people…
Post-pandemic mental health epidemic
By Sonia Awale Apr 26 2020 (IPS) – The number of Nepalis suffering from mental health issues is increasing with the prolonged COVID-19 lockdown, and the lack of treatment and counselling means the country may be facing an epidemic of…
How Eswatini’s garden farmers Keep vegetable supply flowing
By Mantoe Phakathi MALKERNS, Eswatini, Apr 28 2020 (IPS) – Nobukhosi Cebekhulu (68) and Khetsiwe Tofile (64) are small-scale vegetable farmers who are producing from their permaculture home gardens in Malkerns, Eswatini.
WHO and China: A case of geo-political misdirection
By Hassanal Noor Rashid WHO IS AT FAULT? The Covid-19 pandemic has been a real roller-coaster ride as far as geopolitics is concerned. Through the chaos and the barrage of information and updates on the on-going pandemic, there are still…
The challenge to improve lives after the Covid-19 crisis
By Alexander Trepelkov UNITED NATIONS, Apr 27 2020 (IPS) – The SDGs, with their universal scope, interlinked nature and focus on leaving no one behind will be more essential than ever during and after this (Covid-19) crisis.
Covid-19 stimulus steps must save lives, livelihoods, nature
By Josef Settele, Sandra Díaz, Eduardo Brondizio and Peter Daszak Apr 27 2020 (IPS) – There is a single species that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic – us. As with the climate and biodiversity crises, recent pandemics are a…
Post-Pandemic Cities
By Patricia Viel MILAN – Our cities will not be the same after COVID-19. Nor should they be. In Italy, as elsewhere, the public-health crisis has put us on the defensive. Our hospitals have been inadequate. And our cities, having…
A Marshall Plan for Europe—or a Draghi plan?
by Carlo Spagnolo on 22nd April 2020 Decades of neoliberal inculcation have deprived the political class of the historical memory needed to derive the new Marshall plan today’s crisis demands. A hope is haunting Europe—the hope of a Marshall Plan…