Speaking Out for People, Planet and Peace

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and current President of Pugwash.

NEW YORK (IDN) – It took patience from the President-designate of the 2020 NPT Review Conference, a sober assessment of the situation by a number of states, particularly from the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and help from the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). In the end, the parties to the Treaty agreed to postpone the Conference to next year, "as soon as circumstances permit, but no later than April 2021".

Viewpoint by Lyubov Sharkova*

MOSCOW (IDN) – In just a short period of time, the world in Russia has changed for everyone. I've started to notice how people around me are going mad. They've started blaming and avoiding other people, making social distance the priority of their lives. These people are well-educated, well-off, with flexible minds. It doesn't matter who they were in their life "before corona". Now all of them are afraid. And that's the reason for their madness.

Viewpoint by Slavoj Žižek*

LJUBLJANA (IDN) – The current spread of the coronavirus epidemic has also triggered a huge contagion of ideological viruses, which had been lying in a dormant state in our societies: fake news, paranoid conspiracy theories, outbursts of racism, and so on.

The founded and real need for the implementation of quarantine has reverberated, manifesting itself in the ideological pressures that invite us to erect clear borders and put down "enemies" that would represent a threat to our identity and the conditions of isolation.

Viewpoint by Soka Gakkai President Minoru Harada

Following is the text of a press release conveying President Harada's Message in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

TOKYO (IDN) – Japan, where until recently we hoped that we would contain the spread of COVID-19, has now entered into a state of emergency, facing a surge in the number of confirmed cases and redoubling its efforts to save precious lives.

In these most difficult times, on behalf of the Soka Gakkai, I would like to express our most sincere condolences and deep sympathy to all victims, their families and loved ones, and show heartfelt gratitude and respect to all health workers and those fighting on the frontline throughout the globe.

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*

ROME (IDN) – If you could fit the entire population of the world
into a village consisting of 100 people,
maintaining the proportions of all the people living on
Earth, that village would consist of

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Socialist-Democrat Presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, ended his campaign as it lost momentum – and the coronavirus pandemic changed everything. Claiming that he is a democratic socialist, he wanted to stage a political revolution in America. 

The dreaded words "socialist" and "revolution" are anathema to Americans even though they may be quite familiar with their modern day color revolutions, regime changes, and Arab Springs abroad – in the name of democracy and freedom.

Viewpoint by Dr. Alon Ben-Meir

The writer is a professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

NEW YORK (IDN) – For a man who is a self-absorbed, power hungry narcissist who wants to be recognized as one of the greatest presidents of the United States while desperately trying to be reelected, Trump failed miserably to rise to the occasion precipitated by the unfortunate advent and spread of the coronavirus.

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 38th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous articles.

SYDNEY (IDN) – A positive outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic could be a better understanding of protecting biodiversity and a global ban on the trade in wild animals for food. The belief that COVID-19 began at a "wet market" in Wuhan in China, where wild animals were being sold for human consumption, has led to the Chinese government banning the trade in wild animals and a growing international campaign for this to be made into an enforceable international law. 

Viewpoint by Dr. Dilkhush Panjwani *

The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of people, institutions or organizations that the author is affiliated with, in a professional or personal capacity.

TORONTO (IDN) – Humanity is in the midst of an unfolding global public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus is spreading at an alarming rate and there are no vaccines or approved treatments so far, except assisted breathing.

Viewpoint by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Following is the statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women on 6 April 2020.

NEW YORK (IDN) – With 90 countries in lockdown, four billion people are now sheltering at home from the global contagion of COVID-19. It's a protective measure, but it brings another deadly danger. We see a shadow pandemic growing, of violence against women.

As more countries report infection and lockdown, more domestic violence helplines and shelters across the world are reporting rising calls for help.

Viewpoint by Paul W. Franks*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Daily updated graphs illustrating the rising COVID-19 death rates in different countries raise hopes that we can understand impact of the virus and work out how to stop it from spreading further. But when comparing countries as different as South Korea, China, Italy and the UK, we may find the impression of how different interventions work is obscured by many other factors.

These countries differ in many important ways, including demographics, civil disobedience, population density, patterns of social interactions, air quality and genetics. Italy, for example, has regions with older populations than many other countries. And European societies are unlikely to ever accept the draconian interventions used in China and South Korea.

Viewpoint by Amy Fraenkel

The writer is the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) based in Bonn, Germany.

BONN (IDN) – As efforts are stepping up around the world to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), there are alarming reports that some communities and governmental authorities are targeting the wrong enemy: bats.

Not only will killing bats not stop COVID-19; it could also do irreparable harm to a mammal which poses no risk to human health in its natural environment, and which provides enormous benefits including pollination, seed dispersal and pest control. 

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

The writer is Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) – The unprecedented public health emergency triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and its multi-faceted impact on people's lives around the world is taking a heavy toll on Asia and the Pacific.

Countries in our region are striving to mitigate the massive socioeconomic impact of the pandemic, which is also expected to affect the region's economic health. In its annual Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2020 launched on May 8, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) expects growth in Asia-Pacific developing economies to slow down significantly this year.

On the Future of Capitalism after the Pandemic

Viewpoint by Albena Azmanova*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

LONDON (IDN) – While nursing his gravely ill godson in the spring of 1876, Lewis Carroll wrote the 141-stanza absurdist poem "The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in 8 Fits". In the plot, a crew of ten sets out on a sea voyage chasing an elusive creature, a Snark – an allegory for the search of happiness. The venture does not pan out well – the Snark eventually turns out to be a highly dangerous Boojum who has the power to make things "softly and suddenly vanish away, and never be met with again."

Applause for UN Chief's Leadership While Missing Out His 'Global Ceasefire' Plea

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Short of referring to the clarion call by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on March 23 for "an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world", in support of the bigger battle against the devastating pandemic, the Group of 77 (G77) has in a statement congratulated him for his "strong leadership in this time of crisis" and welcomed the launch of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund "to strengthen health systems and assist vulnerable populations across the globe".

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Let's get death in proportion. True, Coronavirus is an appalling disease but the number of deaths it has caused this year is far lower than deaths caused by either common flue, car accidents, drug taking, alcoholism or cigarette smoking. Governments don't like these things and make an effort to combat them. But they don't get themselves as worked up as they have with Coronavirus. (For starters, why don't they outlaw all smoking?) A Russian friend texted me from Moscow the other day saying the pandemic we should worry about is "the pandemic of fear". Where is our sense of proportion?

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The U.S. and France are treading unexpected paths to besiege COVID-19 with African assistance. Striking a different note, the Nigerians have strong reservations about a team of Chinese specialists invited to support them in combating the pandemic in the West African country.

While the desperate USAID relief agency has been seeking personal protective equipment (PPE) from poor countries to safeguard much needed supplies in the U.S., and a French doctor wants to test drugs on Africans. But the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) is bashing the government for inviting an 18-man team of Chinese specialists in helping to combat the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria.

By Saida Ali

Saida Ali is an intersectional feminist and an international policy analyst. She is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity. She tweets at @SaidaAaliyah

NAIROBI (IDN) – On March 27, in response to the threat of COVID-19, Kenya instituted a nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew. That night, a man was beaten by police and later died of his injuries. A few days later, a boy looking out from the balcony of his home was killed by a police bullet.

These are not isolated cases. Kenyan police are killing the poor. At a time when the forces charged with protecting and serving us should be doing their utmost to help, they continue to pathologise people facing multiple and intersecting inequalities, and a daily struggle to earn a living.

By Devendra Kamarajan

BRAZZAVILLE (IDN) – With more than 6,000 COVID-19 cases reported in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about the virus threatening fragile health systems on the continent. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said: "Case numbers are increasing exponentially in the African region" – not only between African countries but within different localities in the hardest-hit countries.