STOCKHOLM / ROME, Mar 19 2020 (IPS) – The human factor is intimately involved in the origin, spread, and mitigation of the Coronavirus and we cannot afford to ignore that our future existence depends on compassion and cooperation. Response matters!

Some quarantined Italians might recall Giovanni Boccaccio´s The Decameron from 1353 in which people escaping the plague are secluded in a villa where they tell stories to each other. Boccaccio introduced his collection of short stories with an eyewitness account of horrifying human suffering in Florence, which in 1348 was struck by a ”pestilence” that every day ”grew in strength” while it swept relentlessly on fr…

Kenyan nurses wear protective gear during a demonstration of preparations for any potential coronavirus cases at the Mbagathi Hospital, isolation centre for the disease, in Nairobi. Credit: Quartz Africa March 2020

NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 17 2020 (IPS) – The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that now is “a defining moment for modern society. History will judge the efficacy of the response not by the actions of any single set of government actors taken in isolation, but by the degree to which the response is coordinated globally across all sectors for the benefit of our human family.”

Governments, the private sector, and development institutions need to come …

Rev Liberato C. Bautista is assistant general secretary for United Nations and International Affairs of the . He also serves as president of the .

Coronavirus pandemic threatens crises-ravaged communities, UN appeals for global support. Credit: United Nations

NEW YORK, Apr 23 2020 (IPS) – Since the founding of the United Nations in 1945, space for multilateral policy development and commitment has grown. Its growth in the global health field augurs well as we find ways to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Multilateralism is a difficult word, often misconstrued to be about the global and not the local and daily life. Perception plays a major ro…

first published this article by Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at Oxford University.
His books The Butterfly Defect and Age of Discovery predicted that pandemics would cause the next economic crisis.

Oxford University, May 12 2020 (IPS) – Covid-19 is the most significant event since the Second World War. It changes everything.

It brings great sadness to many of us as we lose loved ones, as we see people losing their jobs, and as we see people around the world suffering immensely.

But it also provides an opportunity for a reset and new start for humanity. It teaches us how closely we are all interwoven together, how a problem i…

This blog is part of the seminar series on ‘’.

Jun 3 2020 – Imagine a world without the internet and erase the last few decades of technological advancement. Then imagine how governments, schools and businesses would have dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the pandemic continues its relentless march around the globe, there have been debates about the effectiveness of response strategies such as social distancing and stay-at-home orders. Particularly, there is concern about the ability of countries with larger populations to enforce these measures.

There is no question that technology has played a major role in the world’s response to CO…

Cherie Blair meets with graduates from the Asian University for Women (AUW) at the Rohingya refugee camps at Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. More than 40 women from the university are involved in humanitarian work in the area. Credit: Asian University for Women

London, Cox’s Bazaar, Johannesburg, Jun 17 2020 (IPS) – The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns falls heavily on the shoulders of women even in the global north. Women take the brunt of housework and caretaking duties, homes schooling, working from home and perhaps looking after elderly parents, says Cherie Blair.

“Imagine you’re a woman in the Rohingya refugee camp (near Cox’s Bazar, Bangl…

An eight-month-old boy with pneumonia is examined by a doctor at Amana Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

Jul 15 2020 (IPS) – In March, 10,000 NHS staff to UK prime minister Boris Johnson demanding better protection against COVID-19. Nurses and doctors wanted to treat patients without fear of infecting them and to minimise their own risk of falling ill. But they lacked the proper protective equipment.

The problem they described was rooted in changes made long before the arrival of the coronavirus. The NHS’s reduced capacity for dealing with the pandemic – including a lack of PPE – has been the result of years of to dict…

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the needs of the ageing population in various African countries were not adequately addressed. However, since the pandemic a recent survey has shown that the pandemic has further compounded the existing health challenges, further increasing neglect of older persons.Credit: Dolphin Emali/IPS

Nearly three quarters of respondents in a survey across 18 African countries have claimed that their countries’ COVID-19 responses are gravely lacking in addressing the ageing population.

The survey, conducted by the Stakeholder Group on Ageing (SGA) Africa, found that factors such as inadequate social protection, health care infrastr…

Mbaye Mbeguere is Senior Wash Manager (Urban) at WaterAid*

Maria 5, and Tendo, 4, have learnt the habit of regularly washing their hands whenever they arrive back home from playing with their friends, Kamwokya II Ward, Central Division, Kampala City, Uganda. April 2020. Credit: WaterAid/ James Kiyimba

DAKAR, Senegal, Oct 14 2020 (IPS) – For those who live in slums and informal settlements, the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront their greatest vulnerabilities. But they are fighting back; organising, and coming up with creative ways to protect their communities.

Regular handwashing with soap and water is a first line of defence in protecting from deadly diseas…

Mothers and their children gather at a community nutrition centre in the little village of Rantolava, Madagascar, to learn more about a healthy diet. Credit: Alain Rakotondravony/IPS

NAPLES, Italy, Nov 25 2020 (IPS) – The risks factors contributing to the dramatic rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in recent decades have been known for a long time but the Covid-19 pandemic has brutally exposed our collective failure to deal with them.

Reporting on the findings of the latest , The Lancet warns of a “perfect storm” created by the interaction of the highly infectious Covid-19 virus with the continued rise in chronic illness and associated risk…