Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Inter Press Service | News and Views from the Global South

Lessons from Nigeria in Responding to Coronavirus Ifeanyi Nsofor Coronavirus is now a pandemic and the World Health Organization considers Europe as its new epicenter. Italy, Spain and France are on lockdown and several nations are banning travelers from countries where cases are on the rise. But it’s a problem beyond Europe too, and governments in 61 ... MORE > >

Harassment of Journalists Jeopardises Keeping Public Safe amid Coronavirus Pandemic Ed Holt Growing intimidation and repression of journalists reporting on the coronavirus is threatening public health in some countries, press freedom monitors have warned. Repressive regimes desperate to control the narrative around the disease’s spread have stepped up their harassment of journalists ... MORE > >

Could the Coronavirus Be a Biological Weapon in the Not-Too-Distant Future? Thalif Deen The devastating spread of the deadly coronavirus across every continent-- with the exception of Antarctica-- has triggered a conspiracy theory on social media: what if the virus was really a biological weapon? And more specifically, was it an experimental weapon that accidentally escaped from ... MORE > >

Young People Bring Solar Energy to Schools in the Argentine Capital Daniel Gutman "The idea came to a group of schoolmates and me in 2014, but we never thought it could become a reality," says Sebastián Ieraci, 23, as he points to a multitude of photovoltaic solar panels shining on the roof of the Antonio Devoto High School in the Argentine capital. The secondary school is ... MORE > >

State Intervention Necessary to Overcome Covid-19 Threats Vladimir Popov and Jomo Kwame Sundaram It is now clear that most East Asian government responses to novel coronavirus or Covid-19 outbreaks have been effective. In Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan, the number infected have remained relatively low despite their proximity and vulnerability, while containment in China and South Korea ... MORE > >

Coronavirus & Water Pandemics: Doing the Math Vladimir Smakhtin As the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic spreads, guidance on how wash your hands and other measures intensifies. These recommendations are important, but they are hardly of value to the 40% of humanity lacking access to even the most basic hand washing requirements — soap and water 1. In ... MORE > >

COVID-19 in Africa: Fewer Cases So Far, and More Preparation Needed The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has taken the world by surprise. The good news is that tremendous scientific and technological advances have permitted scientists to understand a lot about this virus in a short amount ... MORE > >

Could the Coronavirus Pandemic have been Avoided if the World Listened to Indigenous Leaders? Samira Sadeque Mina Setra remembers the story clearly. As a Dayak Pompakng indigenous person from Indonesia, when visitors from the city who came into her community; brought bottled water with them because they were worried about the water not being suitable for drinking. Setra, who is the deputy ... MORE > >

Giant Itaipú Dam and Bacteria Join Forces for Clean Energy and Environment Mario Osava "It used to be complicated, I would have lunch with the flies," recalls Pedro Colombari, laughing, on his 400-hectare farm where he fattens 5,000 pigs and raises 400 cattle outside of a small town in southern Brazil. Biogas production keeps disease-carrying insects away by extracting the gases ... MORE > >

Use Stimulus Packages for Longer Term Progress Anis Chowdhury The coronavirus pandemic seems to have finally forced governments around the world to ditch their obsession (at least for the moment) with delivering budget surplus. As stock markets tumble, stimulus measures, worth billions of dollars, are announced to boost investor confidence and consumer ... MORE > >

Creating Opportunities to Nurture Agripreneurship among Africa’s Youth Busani Bafana “It is not easy to be in agriculture but you must have the perseverance and you must have the passion for it,” Ngozi Okeke (30), the director of operations at Frotchery Farms, tells IPS during a tour of the company’s factory in Ibadan, Nigeria. For Okeke, passion and patience are pivotal to ... MORE > >

It's Disinformation, Stupid! Andrés Cañizález During his 1992 run, Bill Clinton, then elected US president, made "It's the economy, stupid!” a household phrase. Coined by campaign advisor James Carville, it pointed out economic and health issues as part of the strategy resulting in the accession of this relatively obscure governor of Arkansas ... MORE > >

Why Nigeria Knows Better How to Fight Corona Than the US Crystal Simeoni The coronavirus disease, otherwise known as COVID-19, was first reported in Wuhan, China on the last day of December 2019. When it began to spread rapidly, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared it a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020. As such, the ... MORE > >

Trinidad and Tobago Struggles to Meet its Biodiversity Targets Jewel Fraser Trinidad and Tobago, like many other signatories to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, had made commitments in 2010, to achieve several biological diversity targets during the decade 2011 to 2020, commonly referred to as the Aichi targets. However, achieving most of those ... MORE > >

Gender "Could be Coronavirus Key" Analysing how coronavirus impacts genders differently could be key in fighting the disease, say public health experts. Women are on the coronavirus frontlines as healthcare workers, primary caregivers and migrant workers, but policy responses often fail to consider how gender and epidemics ... MORE > >

Population 2020: Demographics can be Potent Driver of Pace & Process of Economic Development David E. Bloom “Demography is destiny” is an oft-cited phrase that suggests the size, growth, and structure of a nation’s population determines its long-term social, economic, and political fabric. The phrase highlights the role of demographics in shaping many complex challenges and opportunities societies ... MORE > >

Why Rich Countries must Protect Developing Nations from Coronavirus Pandemic Ed Holt Governments in wealthy, first world countries must not ignore the plight of poorer nations battling the coronavirus or the disease will not be brought under control, global development experts have said. As African nations slowly report growing numbers of cases, and more and more infections are ... MORE > >

Global Economic Consequences of COVID-19 Haider A. Khan* The panic resulting from the events starting with the deaths in Wuhan keeps spreading globally faster than the spreading of the virus itself. Quite apart from the immediate health dangers, now a new economic danger looms large globally. We are facing the prospects of a deep and lasting global ... MORE > >

Fight, Not Flight, Must Be the Strategy for Flattening the COVID-19 Curve Siddharth Chatterjee The number of coronavirus cases in Kenya has jumped to three after the government confirmed two more cases. President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced a raft of proactive measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Barely three months into the COVID-19 outbreak, stock markets have plummeted, and ... MORE > >