SINGAPORE, Jun 9 2020 – Politics have exacerbated the already severe pains that the raging COVID Pandemic have been inflicting on the global population. The spread of Coronavirus coincided with three major developments in the global arena. First was the end of what Charles Krauthammer, the American neo-conservative guru had called, as the title of his book on that subject suggested, America’s “Unipolar Moment”. This was the period, since the implosion of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, when the United states was the only pre-dominant superpower that ruled the roost in the global arena. Though China was rising in the meantime, politically, economically and militarily, it was still coy about it, conforming to the Deng Xia0ping counsel to “hide its capabilities and bide its ti…
To Enrique González Rojo (1928-2021), friend, comrade in many struggles, admirable poet, and Marxist thinker
MEXICO CITY, Mar 26 2021 (IPS) – A compilation of testimonies collected by Blanca Velázquez Díaz and published by the Ebert Foundation (available at: ) offers an account of the harsh reality by which some workers of the maquila industry in the Mexican state of Morelos have gone through over these last twelve months. Their words reflect, undoubtedly, similar experiences of millions of workers in different parts of the country.
Saul Escobar Toledo
The author explains the interviews were conducted by phone in mid-2020; the workers´ ages range from 20 to 40 years; …
2.2 billion young people below the age of 25 don’t have internet connections at home, and girls are more likely to lack access.
Young girls in Guinea. Credit: Karl Grobl/EDC
NEW YORK, Oct 11 2021 (IPS) – This year’s International Day of the Girl theme, , celebrates the potential of digital technologies while calling for the inclusion of all girls in accessing technology. The digital revolution will not be realized if girls without access to digital solutions are left behind. For years, advocates of technology for development have been repeating the mantra that technology is not a panacea. Yet in racing to connect, catch up, and create greater access, we ig…
The Republic of Congo received just over 300,000 doses of the COVID vaccines through the COVAX Facility in August 2021. The international COVAX initiative aimed at guaranteeing global access to the vaccines, recently announced that it was being forced to slash planned deliveries to Africa, by around 150 million doses this year. The scheme is now expected to deliver 470 million doses through the end of December. These will be enough to protect just 17 per cent of the continent, far below the 40 per cent target, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Credit: UNICEF/Aimable Twiringiyima
MANOA, Hawaii / TAIPEI, Taiwan, Dec 6 2021 (IPS) – Many countries around the …
The employment outlook for women in Latin America continues to face obstacles before it can reach pre-COVID-19 levels. But a sustainable and inclusive recovery will require measures to close the gender gaps that already affected employment of women in the region before the pandemic. CREDIT: Mariela Jara/IPS
LIMA, Mar 3 2022 (IPS) – The COVID-19 pandemic did not hit everyone equal…
Credit: Office of New York City Mayor
NEW YORK, May 22 2022 (IPS) – A fifth wave of a new Covid 19 variant BA.2, followed by a surge in infections, is threatening to undermine the safety of New York city (NYC) which was gradually returning to normal after a prolonged pandemic shutdown. As a result, the City went on “high Covid alert.”
But NYC Mayor Eric Adams has assured New Yorkers he will not bring back mask and vaccine mandates in work places, shopping malls, restaurants and Broadway theaters. Instead, he said he will focus on anti-virus treatment and home-testing.
Briefing reporters at a press conference, he said “I think the reason we a…
Gregory Chen is Managing Director of BRAC’s Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative
The Graduation approach’s impact goes well beyond that of the individual participant. Not only does the household greatly benefit from its various interventions, but now studies show subsequent generations are able to stay out of the poverty trap. (Rangpur, Bangladesh). Credit: BRAC/2021
WASHINGTON DC, Oct 10 2022 (IPS) – As we approach 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals look harder than ever to achieve. Shocks to the global economy caused by climate change, COVID-19, and conflict . For the most vulnerable, trends are moving in the wrong direction with an additional 75 to 95 mil…
NEW YORK, Sep 2 2022 (IPS) – As we approach this year’s , global leaders can and must prioritize expertise and mobilize political will to support efforts to ensure inclusive and quality education for all, especially girls. This is at the heart of in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the commitments made in the and the .
Helen Grant
Despite the progress made in recent decades, gender inequality between girls and boys, in all their diversity, is deepening. According to a recent United Nations , the interlinked crises: of armed conflicts, climate change and COVID-19 are putting the 2030 Agenda in “grave danger, along with humanity’s v…
An activist during COP27 in Egypt. Credit: Oliver Kornblihtt / Mídia NINJA
BRUSSELS, Jan 25 2023 (IPS) – In 2022, Saudi Arabia “quietly” to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity, marking the longest Saudi sentence ever for a peaceful activist. Fast forward and award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was charged with two after making unflattering remarks about the president and his son on Twitter. The message is clear: your well-crafted 280 characters can land you in jail.
But what if, not only your online expressions could put you behind bars, but that the internet, today’s window to the rest of the world shuts down? …
Emina Cerimovic is a senior disability rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Shahd, a 12-year-old girl with a hearing disability, stands in front of a window facing her father, in the house her family live in, Azaz, Aleppo, Syria. Credit: Human Rights Watch.
NEW YORK, Feb 28 2023 (IPS) – A few days ago, I saw a shared to Twitter of Sham, a young Syrian girl rescued from under the rubble in northwest Syria, sitting upright in her hospital bed, According to the Syrian Civil Defense, a volunteer humanitarian group also known as the White Helmets, Sham will lose both her legs because of injuries from the quake.
Looking at her photo, I couldn’…