Month: December 2020

Two billion COVID vaccine doses secured, WHO says end of pandemic is in sight

BioNTech The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is the first vaccine to be made readily available in some parts of the world.    The end of the pandemic is in sight but we must not let our guard down, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, as he welcomed the news that the global […]

COVID-19: Avoid ‘nationalistic footrace’ in choosing vaccines

PAHO/Karen González In Tienditas Health Care Center, the United Nations Population Fund prevents gender-based violence, identifies people at risk, and provides care to survivors.     As governments move to secure COVID-19 vaccines for their populations, choosing these treatments should not be viewed as “some kind of nationalistic footrace”, with some countries winning and others losing, a […]

Global challenges require global solutions, UN chief tells German parliament

United Nations/Florencia Soto Nino UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the Bundestag, the German parliament in Berlin.    UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the Bundestag, the German parliament, on Friday, where he warned of a deficit of international cooperation and underscored that global challenges require global solutions.  The COVID-19 pandemic, a generational global economic crisis, and faltering progress on […]

ILO study finds migrants earn much less than locals, and the gap is widening

IOM/Muse Mohammed – Tents have been provided for migrants in Beirut, Lebanon, who no longer have a place to live.     The gap between wages paid to migrant and national workers is big and growing, and may widen further because of the pandemic, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report published on Monday. The report, “The […]

The Handmaid’s Tale: making a drama out of a crisis

The Handmaid’s Tale, a critically acclaimed television series which has won 38 Emmy awards, may be about a fictional “alternative reality”, but the show’s creators have gone to great lengths to ensure that references to themes such as climate change, human rights abuses, and refugees, are as real and accurate as possible, by collaborating closely […]

Climate Action: It’s time to make peace with nature, UN chief urges

2 December 2020 Climate Change The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, has described the fight against the climate crisis as the top priority for the 21st Century, in a passionate, uncompromising speech delivered on Wednesday at Columbia University in New York. The landmark address marks the beginning of a month of UN-led climate action, which includes the release […]