11 May 2020 (WHO)* — On the occasion of the International Day of the Nurse and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the World Health Organization (WHO) joins hundreds of partners worldwide to highlight the importance of nurses in the healthcare continuum and thank nurses for what they do. The theme for this year is ”Nursing the World to Health”.
WHO
Historically, as well as today, nurses are at the forefront of fighting epidemics and pandemics – providing high quality and respectful treatment and care.
They are often the first and sometimes the only health professional that people see and the quality of their initial assessment, care and treatment is vital.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, 11 May 2020 (UNFPA)* – As countries grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities are among the most vulnerable, with many facing poverty, poor health-care access and limited information. In Honduras, members of these communities are joining together to ensure information and resource reach the most vulnerable.
“We have had to get creative in these times,” said Yimene Calderón, head of the Organization for Ethnic Development, which is working with the Garífuna community to raise awareness of infection control measures and provide support to households in need.
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, May 11 2020 (IPS)* – Experts across Africa are warning that as hospitals and health facilities focus on COVID-19, less attention is being given to the management of other deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which affect millions more people.
Africa is grappling with managing diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis as health systems that are unable to cope with both this and the coronavirus pandemic. Sleeping under a net and taking antimalarial pills helps prevent malaria. Credit: Mercedes Sayagues/IPS
(UN News)* — Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges, significant gains have been made against Desert Locust encroachment in East Africa and Yemen, with an estimated 720,000 tonnes of cereal saved from the swarms of migratory pests across 10 countries: enough to feed five million people a year, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Monday [11 May 2020].
WFP/Peter Louis | A wave of desert locusts has formed swarms in parts of South Sudan.
However, agency chief Qu Dongyu stressed that more action is still needed to avert a food security crisis as the ongoing rainy season, which benefits farmers and pastoralists, also provides favourable conditions for locusts to breed.
“Our gains have been significant; but the battle is long and is not yet over”, he said. “More people are at risk of losing their livelihoods and worsening food security in the coming months.”
12 May 2020 (United Nations)* — Living together in peace is all about accepting differences and having the ability to listen to, recognize, respect and appreciate others, as well as living in a peaceful and united way.
The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL) commemorates the International Day of Peace by releasing doves, a symbol of peace. UN Photo/Pasqual Gorriz
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The UN General-Assembly, in its resolution 72/130, declared 16 May the International Day of Living Together in Peace, as a means of regularly mobilizing the efforts of the international community to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding and solidarity.
10 May 2020 (Wall Street International)* — The United Nations has designated the 16th of May as a day devoted to Living Together in Peace. It therefore seems appropriate to mark this day by discussing the reasons why war must be eliminated as a human institution.
11 May 2020 (UN Environment)* — Over the past few weeks there have been many reports of localized air quality improvements as the world has locked down to combat the coronavirus pandemic. However, no one should think that the climate crisis is therefore over—far from it.
The most recent data from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) shows global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels rising sharply.
In April 2020 the average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere was416.21 parts per million (ppm), the highest since measurements began in Hawaii in 1958.
Furthermore, ice core records indicate that such levels have not been seen in the last 800,000 years.
10 May 2020 (UN News)* — The UN food agency, FAO, warns that hunger and fatalities could rise significantly in urban areas, without measures to ensure that poor and vulnerable residents have access to food. In Latin America, cities are finding ways to keep food supplies flowing, despite the current restrictions on movement and supplies.
Several Latin American municipalities have been taking action to minimise the consequences of lockdown measures, and ensure that food systems do not break down, as work dries up.
10 May 2020 (UN News)* — The US island state of Hawaii has committed to generating 100 per cent of its power using renewable energy by 2045, demonstrating to other US states and island communities across the world, that sustainable energy can be a reality.
ILO Photo/Kevin Cassidy | The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative solar facility in the US state of Hawaii.
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UN News travelled to Hawaii with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to talk to a power company executive and a sheep farmer to find out how they are contributing to that goal.
Neatly arranged rows of deep marine blue-coloured photovoltaic panels are lined up on the undulating hills of one of Hawaii’s volcanic islands, creating a sea of solar-energy generation.
Big tech, nationalist politics, and the billionaire class have propelled a novel political economy. What impact will the virus have on this new status quo?
Jan Scheunert/Zuma Press/PA Images
Crisis redux
As the coronavirus and its political combatants hold the world hostage, it is pertinent to scrutinize the (geo) political and economic context within which the pandemic has emerged. Many analyses view neoliberalism as the culprit, having given rise to a dismantling and marketization of public services such as healthcare for which we are now paying the price.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 