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Kenya Surges on UN 'Happiness' Report
NEW YORK (IDN) - As Mae West once said, "I've been rich, and I've been poor; believe me, rich is better."
But could there be more to the story? A landmark survey of the state of global happiness designates Kenya as more positive and hopeful than its neighbors despite the challenges that the country faces. In fact, Kenya is ranked as the happiest nation in East and Central Africa in the World Happiness Report of 2020.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" – Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (1882-1945).
Viewpoint by Dr. Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake*
The writer is a cultural anthropologist with research expertise in international political economy, peace, and development studies in South and South East Asia.
COLOMBO (IDN) – COVID 19 is more a panic than a pandemic: It obscures from view the fact that far more people die as a result of illness related to poverty, malnutrition, and other forms of structural violence than anything else in South Asia, and indeed the rest of the world.
By Daniel Johnson of UN News
GENEVA (IDN) – United Nations agencies are working round the clock to provide all the necessary aid to vulnerable sections of the society to combat the Coronavirus pandemic at diverse levels: ensuring meals to millions of children affected by the closure of schools, airlifting relief to Sudanese refugees in Chad.
Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that for the moment, there is no reason why people infected with the COVID-19 virus should not take ibuprofen, a widely available drug used to treat fever and soreness.
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) – A new UN study has warned of accelerating climate change on land, sea and in the atmosphere. Compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), parented by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the report documents impacts of weather and climate events on socio-economic development, human health, migration and displacement, food security and land and marine ecosystems.
Viewpoint by Hobeth Martinez Carrillo*
LONDON (IDN) – Four years after the UN-monitored peace agreement that was intended to end more than five decades of civil war in Colombia, the communities that suffered most during the armed conflict may finally be gaining places at the political table.
The members of the UN Security Council welcomed in a press statement on Colombia (SC/14081) continued progress by the three components of the Integral System for Truth, Justice, Reparation, and Non-repetition, with the participation of victims. They reaffirmed their full support for the critical role of these components in the peace process and stressed the need for them to be able to work independently and autonomously.
Viewpoint by Simone Abram*
DURHAM, UK (IDN) – How do you respond to a crisis? It's obvious that the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been dramatically different to anything provoked by repeated scientific warnings about climate change. The many organisations that declared climate emergencies throughout 2019 and 2020 have so far enacted nothing like the scale and speed of action to limit the spread of coronavirus.
By UN News
KAUAI, Hawaii (IDN) – The 17 goals agreed by the global community to reduce poverty and crate a sustainable planet are the responsibility of all people, wherever they are in the world, according to the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent a boundary-pushing blueprint for the future of the Earth and it is anticipated they will be realised by 2030. UN News joined the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on a visit to Hawaii where many people are already living aspects of the goals in their everyday work.
Women Front and Centre
Viewpoint by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director.
NEW YORK (IDN) – One thing is clear about the COVID-19 pandemic, as stock markets tumble, schools and universities close, people stockpile supplies and home becomes a different and crowded space: this is not just a health issue. It is a profound shock to our societies and economies, exposing the deficiencies of public and private arrangements that currently function only if women play multiple and underpaid roles.
Viewpoint by Silvia Panizza*
PIEDMONT, Italy (IDN) – "They say when trouble comes, close ranks." So begins Jean Rhys's novel Wide Sargasso Sea. When the new coronavirus started spreading in Europe, my first impulse was to travel home, to Italy, to be with my family. Lesson number one learned from the virus: you remember what matters to you.
Rhys was, of course, talking about racial tensions in colonial times, not families vs other commitments, or humans vs viruses. But she knew that there are good ways and bad ways of closing ranks.
Viewpoint by Inge Kaul*
BERLIN (IDN) – In the face of upsurge of the coronavirus, World Water Day 2020 may seem to have no relevance. But the fact is that water is vital for life on earth. It is inextricably linked to climate change, protecting health and saving lives. Water is essential for practicing hand hygiene and combating the spread of COVID-19 and many other infectious diseases.
Therefore, I am deeply concerned about the relatively low-level of attention and priority accorded to water at the practical-political level.
This interactive WHO dashboard/map provides the latest global numbers and numbers by country of COVID-19 cases on a daily Basis.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.
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