COVID-19. No school meals, millions of kids at risk of food insecurity

For millions of children around the world, the COVID-19 outbreak means not getting the most important, if not the only, meal of the day.

The COVID-19 Cash Crisis: Will the UN Cease to Exist?

The coronavirus pandemic has set off an unprecedented institutional crisis at the United Nations – funds are drying up, key meetings are cancelled and the world body is fighting for its future.

India’s Liberal Abortion Law, Nullified by Social Stigma

Arti Zodpe is from the Tamasha (folk dance-drama) theatre in Sangli, in India’s Maharashtra state. After evening performances, some of the singers and dancers offer sex work services to the audience.

Bridging the Gap between Hunger & Food Waste During a Pandemic

On March 12, the first email came in. An email from a boutique hotel that said they needed to postpone their apron order. The hotel had decided to put a hold on all non-essential spending until everything was, according to them, back to normal.

Vietnam Winning New War Against Invisible Enemy

Vietnam, just south of coastal China, is the 15th most populous country in the world with 97 million people.According to its Ministry of Health (MoH), as of 13 April, there were 262 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 144 recovering or discharged from hospitals, and no deaths.

Q&A: How to #BeActive during COVID-19 Lockdown

Growing up in Ramallah in Palestine, Maher Nasser, Director of Outreach Division at the United Nations Department of Global Communications, never really liked running. "I only ran when I needed to: to catch a bus or to run from soldiers," he tells IPS. But now with three marathons under his belt -- which raised thousands for scholarships for Palestinian women’s education -- Nasser is still running, albeit on his balcony.

Ag4Dev, Spring 2020: Journal of the Tropical Agriculture Association

 

No. 39, Spring 2020, Agriculture for Development: open edition 14th Hugh Bunting Memorial Lecture: Smarter foods | Agricultural hazard management in Bangladesh |IPPC special report Climate change and land: extended review | Getting more, much more, from tropical agriculture | Sir George Stapledon | Agriculture and rural roads | TAA 2019 AGM report | TAA 2019 Honours |Moving coastlines: farming the mudflats of Bangladesh | Digital farming and tropical agriculture.

Debunking 9 Popular Myths Doing the Rounds in Africa About the Coronavirus

In the second week of March the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. By mid-March the disease had spread rapidly in many countries around the world.

Time to Raise the Ambition for Climate Action

In recent days we have seen the understandable decision reached to postpone the UN climate change conference – COP26 – which was due to take place this November. As the world reels from the widespread impacts of the coronavirus crisis, it is the right call.

Bioenergy, the Ugly Duckling of Mexico’s Energy Transition

Rosa Manzano carefully arranges pieces of wood in a big mud igloo that, seven days after it is full, will produce charcoal of high caloric content.

Unesco to Support Cultural Sector Hit by COVID-19

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has announced it is “launching initiatives” to support cultural industries and cultural heritage, sectors hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. “COVID-19 has put many intangible cultural heritage practices, including rituals and ceremonies, on hold, impacting communities everywhere,” the organization stated April 9. “It has also cost many jobs, and across the globe, artists … are now unable to make ends meet.”

Hegemony Shift in Times of COVID-19

We have long speculated on the moment when the shift of global leadership from the United States to China would take place. From Washington to Beijing for the political power, from New York to Shanghai for the economic one. It seems that we are witnessing it now.

How Can We Support Sanitation Workers During COVID-19?

In addition to healthcare professionals, there is another group of people at the frontlines of the global crisis caused by COVID-19. They put their lives at risk every day and play a critical role in preventing the spread of the virus, by ensuring our streets, parks, public spaces, sewers, septic tanks, communities, and public toilets are kept clean and hygienic.

Few Clinical Trials are Done in Africa: COVID-19 Shows Why this Urgently Needs to Change

The World Health Organisation (WHO), in its quest to find efficacious therapies to treat COVID-19, plans to conduct a multi-arm, multi-country clinical trial. The trials have yet to begin, but ten countries have already signed up. Only one of them, South Africa, is on the African continent.

A Gender-equal Ethiopian Parliament can Improve the Lives of all Women

Recent gains by women in the Ethiopian political landscape offer a chance to improve gender equality around the country and put an end to long-standing societal iniquities. Since coming to power in 2018, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has reorganised the cabinet to ensure that 50 percent of the government’s top ministerial positions have been given to women.

The Declaration of the Human Solidarity Initiative Against the Coronavirus Pandemic

We find this to be a difficult time in the history of humanity. COVID-19 has brought about ever-increasing tragedies of death and deprivation all the while inflaming our social and economic problems. The time has come to form a humanitarian consensus – strong and active – to face the challenges and dangers that threaten humankind and its future onour small planet.

Gender and COVID-19: Where Can Research Help?

As of April 8, there have been 1.5 million reported cases of coronavirus and over 83,000 deaths. Most of these deaths are of men. Italy, for example, has so far had 71 percent of all case deaths attributed to men while Spain, another major global hotspot, has seen 65 percent of all deaths being men.

The Cost of Coronavirus in Africa: What Measures can Leaders Take?

With the novel coronavirus COVID-19 having reached the African continent, countries are getting ready to manage the spread of the virus and ensure that their fragile health systems can cope. Images from China and Europe give many reasons for concern.

UN and Partners Request $267.5 Million to Respond to Humanitarian Needs Arising from COVID-19 Pandemic in Kenya

The Government of Kenya, the United Nations and humanitarian partners have launched today a Flash Appeal requesting $267.5 million to respond to the most immediate and critical needs of10.1 millionpeople.

COVID-19 and Hope for a Compassionate Future

The Coronavirus, COVID-19, makes its deadly round across the world. People fall sick and die, communities and entire nations end up in its deadly grip and try to cope with it. Everything is changing, and changing fast and we all have to deal with it together, even if many of us are being physically apart. Humans are social beings. Our mental and physical capacities are created around that fact and crave for support and compassion.

Kerala Covid-19 Response Model for Emulation

Within weeks, the Covid-19 epidemic was classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an epidemic of international significance, triggering a pre-agreed WHO response. By the end of the first week of April, more than 1.3 million people had been confirmed as infected, with over 65,000 deaths across the world.