UNITED NATIONS, July 6 (IPS) – A new assessment from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warns that the Ebola outbreak could cost Africa USD 3.6 billion, push 985,000 people into poverty, and put 300,000 jobs at risk.
When people think of the world’s deadliest threats, armed conflicts usually come to mind first. Yet every year, organized crime quietly claims a comparable number of lives.
As Uganda works to contain an Ebola outbreak that is also affecting neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), health workers are doing more than responding to a deadly virus. They are helping families navigate fear, misinformation and stigma.
Described as “sometimes modest, sometimes historic,” UN special political missions have quietly been preventing the escalation of conflicts during the organization’s 80-year history, becoming a key instrument for maintaining peace.
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, July 3 (IPS) – Right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori has won Peru’s presidential runoff, narrowly defeating leftist Roberto Sánchez to become the country’s ninth president in a decade. She inherits a system so engineered for dysfunction that rather than making compromises, she may decide the concentration of power is her only means of survival. The constitution that created this trap was written by her father.
Read the full story, “Peru’s Gridlock a Licence for Autocracy?”, on globalissues.org →
PORTLAND, USA, July 3 (IPS) – Demographic realities are well documented, and governments have long been aware of the profound demographic changes now underway. Nevertheless, many policymakers continue to discount or ignore these demographic trends.
Read the full story, “Discounting Demographic Realities”, on globalissues.org →
KATHMANDU, July 3 (IPS) – Monsoon season in South Asia, including Nepal, is a period of frequent rainfall, extreme heat, and a busy time of the year for farmers. Most farmers in Nepal depend on monsoon rain to plant paddey, the main source of food.
VICTORIA, Seychelles, July 3 (IPS) – In just the first half of this year, Abu Dhabi’s Environment Agency has cultivated 302,415 new coral colonies, bringing the total under the Abu Dhabi Coral Gardens Project to around 1.8 million – a scale of restoration that demands global attention.
Read the full story, “Abu Dhabi’s Coral Promise to the Future”, on globalissues.org →
“To respect strength, never power” is one of my favorite quotes from the acclaimed writer and activist, Arundhati Roy. For years, this quote has stayed with me. It encourages a way of life grounded in compassion rather than dominance.
UNITED NATIONS, July 2 (IPS) – The acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI) and its capabilities is far outpacing governments’ capacities to effectively regulate it. Without scientific evidence to inform their policies, countries will be left at a greater disadvantage, according to the UN’s independent panel on AI.
