February 25, 2021 No comments
‘Industry 4.0’ tech for post-COVID world, is driving inequality: UNCTAD
INTERNATIONAL, 25 February 2021, Economic Development - Developing countries must embrace ground-breaking technologies that have been a critical tool in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, or else face even greater inequalities than before, UN economic development experts at UNCTAD said on Thursday. “Very few countries create the technologies that drive this revolution - most of them are created in China and the US - but all countries will be affected by it”, said UNCTAD’s Shamika Sirimanne, head of Division on Technology and Logistics. “Almost none of the developing countries we studied is prepared for the consequences.” The appeal, which is highlighted in a new UNCTAD report, relates to all things digital and connective, so-called “Industry 4.0” or “frontier technologies”, that include artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, 5G, 3D printing, robotics, drones, nanotechnology and...
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February 25, 2021 No comments
Financial transparency, 'sound governance and accountability’ essential to reach Global Goals
INTERNATIONAL, 25 February 2021, SDGs - Financial integrity is “paramount to the success of the 2030 Agenda”, the President of the UN General Assembly said on Thursday, launching a new report that offers a blueprint to address a range of obstacles, particularly surrounding illicit finance flows. “As an international community committed to addressing inequality and advancing sustainable development, we must put in place the very principles of transparency, sound governance, and accountability that we so often champion”, Volkan Bozkir said at the release of the Report of the High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (FACTI). Putting sound principles in place In the Financial Integrity for Sustainable Development report, the FACTI Panel recommends that governments finance critical action on extreme poverty, COVID-19 and the climate crisis by...
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February 25, 2021 No comments
Belarus human rights situation deteriorating further, warns UN rights chief
INTERNATIONAL, 25 February 2021, Human Rights - A “systematic crackdown” against dissent in Belarus is continuing, months since the country’s disputed presidential election last year, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet has told the Human Rights Council. In comments to the Geneva forum on Thursday, the High Commissioner for Human Rights insisted that curbs on demonstrators had got worse since last August’s poll returned President Alexander Lukashenko to office. Those protests had led to “mass arbitrary arrests and detentions” of largely peaceful demonstrators, along with “hundreds of allegations of torture and ill-treatment”, Ms. Bachelet said, before noting that “not one of the hundreds of complaints for acts of torture and ill-treatment” had been investigated. The High Commissioner highlighted concerns about Government proposals which would reportedly “enable harsher punishments” for those taking...
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February 25, 2021 No comments
FROM THE FIELD: Millions of Yemenis facing ‘death sentence’
INTERNATIONAL, 25 February 2021, Humanitarian Aid - Yemen remains the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and the situation for the millions of affected people is deteriorating, says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). A woman in Aden, Yemen prepares food at a settlement for people who have fled their homes due to insecurity., by UNOCHA/Giles Clarke The grim outlook for Yemen – ongoing conflict, economic collapse and major cuts in donor support for emergency aid – has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a significant drop in the amount of money sent home by the Yemeni diaspora, as global work opportunities dry up. Cuts to life-saving food, water and health care programmes mean that four million fewer people are being...
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February 25, 2021 No comments
West Africa steps up efforts to tackle latest Ebola threat
INTERNATIONAL, 25 February 2021, Health - As a new Ebola outbreak threatens Guinea, six neighboring countries are urgently scaling up preparation and response efforts to prevent the further spread of the deadly virus, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. So far, nine cases have been reported in Guinea, leading to five deaths. While there have been no confirmed cases beyond the West African nation so far, the outbreak’s epicentre, Gouecke, N’Zerekore prefecture, is close to the borders of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire, according to the UN health agency. Scaling up response Despite limited border controls, all six neighboring countries - Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone - are urgently updating national response plans using the WHO readiness assessment tool,...
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