Languages
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse
On the Agenda of Iraq’s New Government: An Empty Treasury, Low Revenue, and COVID-19
Iraq’s newly-announced leader has brought hope to a country embroiled in a 17-year-long conflict, but authorities must ensure that issues such as swift and rapid response to COVID-19, security concerns, and corruption among others are addressed with urgency, experts said on Tuesday.
Housing is Both a Prevention & Cure for COVID-19
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 now emblazoned on t-shirts, in street art and a celebrity hashtag.
COVID-19: The Digital Divide Grows Wider Amid Global Lockdown
The digital divide has become more pronounced than ever amid the global coronavirus lockdown, but experts are concerned that in the current circumstances this divide, where over 46 percent of the world's population remain without technology or internet access, could grow wider -- particularly among women.
Only Sustainable Investment & Global Cooperation Can Counter COVID’s Blow to SDGs
We are today in a time of crisis—a time when our shared choices will shape the way history tells our story and the paradigm shift it has so forcefully provoked.
SDGs: the Challenge to Improve Lives After the COVID-19 Crisis
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 crisis.
Children under Lockdown get a ‘Learning Passport’
Soon schools in Timor-Leste, Ukraine, and Kosovo, where some 6.5 million children are currently at home, will hopefully start teaching their children once again -- albeit online.
UN’s Development Goals Threatened by a World Economy Facing Recession
The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), described as an integral part of its highly-ambitious development agenda, may be in deep trouble.
Q&A: Continued Social Distancing and Hundreds of Millions More in Poverty – A New Normal for the World?
With much of the global economy stalled amid an unprecedented lockdown of nations grappling to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the author of a new United Nations report on the disease’s impact on poverty told IPS that hundreds of millions more could be pushed into poverty and we can expect to see social unrest.
Global Leaders Must Prioritise Children’s Wellbeing amid Coronavirus Pandemic – UN
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday pleaded with global leaders and families to ensure the protection of the world's children, millions of whom he says are vulnerable to a myriad of threats as a result of the shutdown arising from the global coronavirus pandemic.
UN Faces Financial & Liquidity Crisis as Global Pandemic Rages
The current financial crisis, triggered as a result of withholding or delaying payment of assessed contributions by Member States, is nothing new to the United Nations.
As US Unemployment Hits a Staggering 22 Million, Will UN Layoffs Be Far Behind?
The deadly coronavirus COVID-19, which has shut down the UN secretariat in New York, along with 32 of its agencies globally, has forced over 37,500 UN staffers worldwide to work from their homes.
Concerns for the Nearly 400 Rohingya Refugees Rescued off the Coast of Bangladesh
Nearly 400 Rohingya refugees have been rescued in Bangladesh after being at sea for two months.
Amid Coronavirus Pandemic, SDGs are Even More Relevant Today Than Ever Before
Our world today is dealing with a crisis of monumental proportions. The vicious, novel coronavirus is wreaking havoc across the globe, destroying lives and ruining livelihoods.
In His Fight Against WHO, Trump Plays Politics with Human Lives
President Donald Trump’s threat to abruptly cut all US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) has been described as ‘reckless and deadly”—particularly at a time when the Geneva-based UN agency was engaged in an uphill battle against the spreading coronavirus.
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.
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.
NGOs Pivot to COVID-19 Prevention in Refugee Camps
We are living in uncertain times. All of us are experiencing the Corona pandemic in various ways. For most it means quarantine and physical isolation. We worry about family members, loss of income and not knowing what the future will look like- or how long this will continue.
U.N. Releases Report on Socio-economic Effects of Coronavirus
As the number of coronavirus cases continues to grow, concerns are simultaneously growing about the current and long-term effects this will have on certain demographics -- specifically, women, the youth, migrant workers, and many employees around the world.
Can We Use Digital Technology to Cushion the Pandemic’s Blow?
As the world grapples with COVID-19, governments face a daunting challenge: limiting the adverse impact of a pandemic that has ground economic activity to a halt, affecting people at a scale rarely seen before.
Coronavirus Proves Need for Free Healthcare for All– Now
The multi-layered crisis of the Coronavirus epidemic has been a dramatic shock to everyone. But, to communities affected by HIV and AIDS, the crisis has not only brought a further shock to already vulnerable people, it has brought other reactions too – a troubling sense of déjà vu, and a passionate, empathetic, fierce solidarity with all those affected by Coronavirus.
Modern Day Slavery Reaches a Far Corner of the World
The deadly, fast-spreading coronavirus which upended three key UN conferences—on the empowerment of women, on nuclear disarmament and on indigenous rights—claimed another casualty last week when a commemorative meeting on the transatlantic slave trade was postponed.« Previous Page — Next Page »
It was dubbed "The Glass House" by U.S. ambassador James Wadsworth in 1966. Half a century later, the United Nations has gradually expanded its role as agent of peace and protector of the world's vulnerable populations, while simultaneously facing internal pressures to become more inclusive, increase transparency and maintain legitimacy in the post-Cold War political and economic order. Highlighting the local impacts of global policies on economic development, environment, health and human rights, IPS's coverage goes beyond the edicts of the Security Council to illuminate the power struggles, successes and shortcomings of the 193-member institution as it grapples with crises like climate change, armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS.
The Week with IPS
