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CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 31 2020 (IPS) – Tobacco use kills more than people each year. Most adult smokers start smoking before the . This implies that if one can get through adolescence without , the likelihood of being a smoker in adulthood is greatly reduced.
Preventing young people from becoming addicted to tobacco and related products is therefore key to a smoke-free future.
With the advent of novel tobacco products and the tobacco industry falsely marketing them as less harmful than their combustible counter…
CANBERRA, Australia, Jun 12 2020 (IPS) – Prior to the onset of the coronavirus crisis South Asian women participated only sparingly in the labor market. Even though South Asia was and still has the potential to become one of the fastest growing regions in the world (post COVID19) female labor force participation rates were low at 23.6% compared to 80% for men (World Bank figures).
Raghbendra Jha
The principal reasons for low female labor participation rates are (i) relatively low literacy rates for women as compared to men1 although the gap between the two is falling and both rates are rising; (ii) gender norms that view household work as women’s work and work outside…
Jul 9 2020 – During the pandemic, forced return of migrants has become a major issue of concern for intergovernmental bodies and the global civil society engaged in migration issues. The United Nations Network on Migration (UNNM) has urged states to suspend forced returns during the pandemic, in order to protect the health of migrants and communities, and uphold the human rights of all migrants, regardless of status . UNNM has called for a halt to arbitrary expulsions and reiterated that their protection needs must be individually assessed; and that the rule of law and due process must be observed . It reminded the states that these obligations under international law can never be put on hold and are vital to any successful approach to combatting Covid-19 for the benefit of all .
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MEXICO CITY, Aug 14 2020 (IPS) – A group composed by women and men, called Nuevo Curso de Desarrollo (New Course for Development) based at the National University of Mexico recently published a document to propose a set of measures to change the current economic policy in Mexico. This proposal responds to a diagnosis of the current situation: at this point of the year, the serious social damage inflicted by the health and economic crisis can already be observed. As we know, in Mexico as in many other countries, there was a great economic disruption caused by COVID. Millions of people ceased to receive income from their work. However, the Mexican government has not carried out sufficient support measures to compensate for these losses. The result is easy to guess: many households have be…
Wang Yi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, addresses the virtual Security Council summit-level debate on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Global Governance post Covid-19”. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe.
AMSTERDAM/ROME, Oct 5 2020 (IPS) – Lockdowns, social distancing, face-masks and other restrictions on personal and social behaviour have helped slow the progress of the COVID-19 …
KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Nov 17 2020 (IPS) – The United Nations’ renamed (WSR 2020) argued that income inequality is rising in most developed countries, and some middle-income countries, including China, the world’s fastest growing economy in recent decades.
Inequality dimensions
While overall inter-country inequalities may have declined owing to the rapid growth of economies like China, India and East Asia, national inequalities have been growing for much of the world’s population, generating resentment.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
In 2005, when the focus was on halving poverty, thus ignoring inequality, the UN drew attention to . Secretary-General Kofi Annan wa…
Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait
NEW YORK, Dec 23 2020 – As Mohammed, a Palestine refugee with impaired vision who attends a specialized UNRWA programme for children with disabilities, told us during our mission to Lebanon a week ago: “I was worried. I was worried that I could not continue my education because the programme was going to be cut. Now I have hope that I can continue to study and make my dream come true.” As 2020 comes to a close and we reflect on Education Cannot Wait’s mission this past year, two things stand out: hope and action. Amidst multiple crises around the globe, exacerbated by the COVID-19 global pandemic, hope has been the fuel driving us all forward to take action to deliver to those left furthest behind. Indeed, while hope is life-…
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote on Twitter: “We must get to work to make sure the vaccine is available to everyone, everywhere. With this pandemic, none of us are safe until all of us are safe.”
Benny Kuruvilla heads the India office of , an Asia-based think tank providing analysis and building alternatives for just social, economic and political change.
Wearing a full protective suit, a woman doctor who leads a group of volunteer medical professionals attending to COVID-19 patients at a community hospital in the Philippines. Credit: UN Women/Louie Pacardo
NEW DELHI, India, Feb 4 2021 (IPS) – As the pandemic spills into its second year, th…
Parliamentarians from Africa and Asia met to discuss how to improve the conditions of women, girls, and youth during pandemics. Credit: APDA
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Mar 11 2021 (IPS) – COVID-19 restrictions exposed women and girls to heightened abuse – revealing the conditions in which gender-based violence became the shadow pandemic on the continent, a recent webinar attended by parliamentarians from Africa and Asia heard.
Gift Malunga, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) country repres…
Map of countries with projected austerity cuts in 2021-2022, in terms of GDP, based on IMF fiscal projections. Credit: I. Ortiz and M. Cummins, 2021
NEW YORK and NAIROBI, Apr 15 2021 (IPS) – Last week Ministers of Finance met virtually at the of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to discuss policies to tackle the pandemic and socio-economic recovery.
But a just published by the Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University, international trade unions and civil society organizations, sounds an alert of an emerging austerity shock: Most governments are imposing budget cuts, precisely at a time when their citizens and economies a…