June 21, 2021 No comments
Human Rights Council urged to support UN chief’s call for a ‘new social contract’ after COVID-19
INTERNATIONAL, 21 June 2021, Human Rights - UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet on Monday urged UN Member States to promote a more inclusive post-pandemic recovery to help the world’s most vulnerable recover from the impact of COVID. Citing a rise in “extreme poverty, inequalities and injustice” in the last 18 months, Ms. Bachelet also warned that democratic and civic space has been eroded. These were all problems that could be addressed if countries embraced the UN Secretary-General’s call for a New Social Contract, Ms. Bachelet said, on the opening day of the Human Rights Council’s 47th session in Geneva. The initiative will be supported by a “New Global Deal of solidarity”, which shares “power, resources and opportunities more fairly”, in line with a plan for a UN-wide agenda that António Guterres intends to present to...
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June 20, 2021 No comments
Sustainability solution or climate calamity? The dangers and promise of cryptocurrency technology
INTERNATIONAL, 20 June 2021, Economic Development - The negative environmental impact of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has been widely covered in the press in recent weeks and months, and their volatility has also been flagged as a cause for concern. Nevertheless, the UN believes that blockchain, the technology lying behind these online currencies, could be of great benefit to those fighting the climate crisis, and help bring about a more sustainable global economy. A ‘pointless way of using energy’? The amount of energy needed to power the Bitcoin network is staggering: Tim Berners-Lee, credited as the inventor of the World Wide Web, has gone so far as to describe “Bitcoin mining” as “one of the most fundamentally pointless ways of using energy.” Bitcoins don’t exist...
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June 19, 2021 No comments
Refugees disproportionately exposed to COVID impact: Guterres
INTERNATIONAL, 19 June 2021, Migrants and Refugees - Everyone has a duty to help refugees rebuild their lives after a particularly difficult year for so many – that’s the message from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, to mark World Refugee Day on 20 June. In an appeal for greater empathy for all those who’ve had to flee conflict, climate shocks, and harassment, through no fault of their own, Mr. Guterres, who has just been re-appointed for a second term, said that the pandemic had wiped out refugees’ livelihoods, and led to stigmatization and vilification. Refugees had also been exposed disproportionately to the virus, the UN chief insisted, adding that once again, they had demonstrated their invaluable contribution to their host communities as essential and frontline workers. “We have...
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June 18, 2021 No comments
COVID-19: Vaccines donated next year, ‘too late for those who are dying today’
INTERNATIONAL, 18 June 2021, Health - Millions more COVID vaccines need to be donated now to save lives and help the UN health agency reach the key global target of having 70 per cent of all national populations vaccinated, by the middle of 2022. That was one of the main messages relayed to reporters on Friday by World Health Organization (WHO) chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said if richer countries and pharmaceutical companies wait to donate and produce more shots until next year, that will be “too late for those who are dying today.” Lauding Guinea’s expected announcement on Saturday that its latest Ebola virus disease outbreak has been curbed after just four months, he said it showed what could be done on a much larger scale, with the coronavirus. Global...
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June 18, 2021 No comments
António Guterres secures second term as UN Secretary-General, calls for new era of ‘solidarity and equality’
INTERNATIONAL, 18 June 2021, UN Affairs - António Guterres was on Friday re-appointed to a second term as UN Secretary-General, pledging as his priority, to continue helping the world chart a course out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking the oath of office in the General Assembly Hall, Mr. Guterres said he was aware of the immense responsibilities bestowed on him at this critical moment in history. World at a crossroads “We are truly at a crossroads, with consequential choices before us. Paradigms are shifting. Old orthodoxies are being flipped,” he told ambassadors. “We are writing our own history with the choices we make right now. It can go either way: breakdown and perpetual crisis or breakthrough and prospect of a greener, safer and better future for all. There...
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