We Must Rise to the Occasion, Now.

In 2021, COVID-19 continued to plague the world – a world already burdened by armed conflicts, climate-induced disasters and forced displacement. Communities, nations and people struggled to maintain normalcy in the midst of the abnormal. This was especially notable in the education sector – a sector that is the very foundation for achieving all human rights and all Sustainable Development Goals.

The Future of an Entire Generation Hangs in the Balance

COVID-19 has upended our world, threatening our health, destroying economies and livelihoods, and deepening poverty and inequalities. It also created the single largest disruption to education systems that the world has ever seen.

ECW Interviews UK Special Envoy for Girls’ Education, Helen Grant

Helen Grant became actively involved in politics in 2006 and was elected as Member of Parliament for the Kent constituency of Maidstone & The Weald at the 2010 General Election.

Safety of Women Journalists

On International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (25 November), UNESCO is raising awareness for the continued violence, threats and harassment that women journalists and female media workers face all around the world.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews Patricia Danzi, Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

Patricia Danzi was appointed Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in May 2020. For nearly three decades, she has dedicated her career to serving the world’s vulnerable populations.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Urges Leaders to “Dig Deeper” in Climate Talks for the Sake of Vulnerable Nations

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has appealed to world leaders attending the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 to close the gap in ongoing negotiations this week in Glasgow, with millions of lives and livelihoods on the line in climate-vulnerable countries.

COP26 – New Toolkit to Boost Clean Energy Investments in Small Island Nations

A new toolkit launched in the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 aims to unlock clean energy investments for small island nations, many of whom rely heavily on imported fossil fuels for power generation.

Campaigners Petition UN to Investigate Racial and Gender Discriminations in Global COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out

An international coalition of human rights law groups, public health experts, and civil society organisations is taking legal action against the US, UK, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland, on the grounds that these countries are in violation of international human rights law by failing to intervene on what has been an inequitable and racially discriminatory roll-out of the vaccine and other COVID healthcare technologies.

Helena McLeod Appointed as GGGI’s Deputy Director-General and Head of Green Growth Planning & Implementation

The Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) has announced the appointment of Ms. Helena McLeod, Cardno International Development Group’s Team Leader of UK Aid’s Cities, Infrastructure and Growth Program (Uganda) and former Director of KPMG International Development Advisory Services (IDAS) Africa, as the incoming Deputy Director-General and Head of Green Growth Planning & Implementation (GGP&I). Ms. McLeod will succeed Ms. Hyoeun Jenny Kim, who was named Ambassador and Deputy Minister for Climate Change in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea on July 31, 2021.

COP26 – Commonwealth Chief Calls for “Highest Possible Ambition” at Climate Summit

Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has called for all countries to deliver an ambitious and transformative outcome at the imminent UN Climate Change Conference COP26, while appealing for increased support for the smallest and most vulnerable nations.

Education Cannot Wait Calls For Urgent Funding To Fulfill The Right To Education Of All Children And Youth In Afghanistan

Immediately following the first all-women UN mission to Afghanistan since takeover by the de facto authorities, Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait - the United Nations global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises - appealed to donors to significantly increase financial support for a robust collective humanitarian-development nexus response. This includes urgent scaled up funding to UN agencies and NGO partners delivering life-saving education to vulnerable children and adolescents on the ground.

Will Countries Reach an Agreement at COP26?

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) is following the developments of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. Being one of the major climate-vulnerable countries, Bangladesh is a major party to this international conference. The CPD Power and Energy Study will publish a series of articles on key climate change-related issues highlighting the contexts, main debates and their impact and implications for Bangladesh. Articles will be published in The Daily Star every week till the middle of December 2021.

World Food Day 2021

Our lives depend on the world’s agri-food system. Every time we eat, we participate in the system. A sustainable agri-food system is one in which sufficient, nutritious and safe foods are available to everyone.

Education Cannot Wait Interviews the LEGO Foundation’s New CEO Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen

Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen is the CEO of The LEGO Foundation. Ms. Albrectsen has spent almost 30 years in fields of international development, human rights and diplomacy, most recently holding the position of Global CEO at Plan International since September 2015.